In North America, the best view of asteroid 2002 NY40 occurs after sunset
on August 17, when it passes within 330,000 miles of Earth, slightly farther
away than the moon. It should be visible with binoculars cruising past
Vega, the brightest star in the summer skies. Most asteroids pose no threat
to Earth. But they do contain valuable metals, minerals, and even water
that we might tap in the future.

The feasibility of knocking a potential rogue asteroid off course is undergoing
studies with money from the European Space Agency (Esa). Deimos-Space
a Spanish company is designing the mission and hopes its plans will convince
Esa to give the go-ahead for a full scale test on a real asteroid. The
company has come up with a plan, which it calls the Don Quixote mission,
to launch a pair of probe spacecraft called Hidalgo and Sancho at a far
off asteroid. One would hit the asteroid at extremely high speed, deflecting
it slightly from its orbit. The other would observe the asteroid and make
highly accurate measurements of what happened after the impact. The idea
is that the mission would tell scientists how hard they would have to hit
a real rogue asteroid heading for Earth in order to deflect it safely.
Thanks to BBC News Online

CONNECTICUT STRANGE SQUARE OBJECT

VERNON -- Tom Manna reports that at 11:20 PM on August 3, 2002, I saw a
large object fly over heading northeast. It was about the size of a quarter
held at arm's length. I live in a very quiet area, and this thing was
totally silent. The blinking lights were white and red, with a steady
blue. They were shaped in sort of a square pattern. Two whites blinking
and two reds lower down with the blue steady lights toward the middle.
Thanks to Tom Manna, FishSpanker@webtv.net

NEW YORK A DOME-SHAPED OBJECT

UTICA -- Peter Davenport reports he interviewed an exceptionally credible
witness, a 42 year old nursing student with a previous B.S. in Home Economics
who is also a cub scout leader who was driving on July 29, 2002, with her
Army veteran husband and their 8 year old son at about 10:15 PM. Lighting
strikes lit up the humid sky, when they witnessed two flashing lights on
an object which was hovering above the road ahead. There was a green flashing
light on the left, and the red flashing light on the right about 20 feet
apart. The object simply hovered, and was absolutely silent. We had our
windows down but we could not hear the roar of a plane or the whirring,
buzzing sound of a helicopter. We immediately reported this sighting to
the Marcy Substation of the New York State police. The dispatcher called
our house later and stated the local police told her there were no other
sightings reported and this was unlikely to have been a military maneuver
since it was operating over a very densely populated area. The son saw
a domed shape that was illuminated by lights behind it. Thanks to Peter
Davenport NUFORC

PENNSYLVANIA CLOSE RANGE ENCOUNTER WITH SMALL SPHERE

NORTH HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP -- Stan Gordon reports, three witnesses, a man,
his wife, and a friend were standing in a parking lot on July 24,2002,
involved in a long conversation. About 10 PM, the friend said, "Look
behind you." They observed a small absolutely round and shiny bubble
like object." The sphere was estimated to be the size of a tennis
ball. While it gave the appearance of a bubble, "it was solid, in
a way not like a bubble, there was thickness in the wall of the object."
As they watched, the object floated past at less than ten feet. They could
have reached out and grabbed it as the object continued slowly down the
road "moving straight at six feet off the ground." There was
no windl, yet this bubble zoomed on past us." It zigzagged left then
right, and was halfway down the complex when they lost sight of it. The
object did reflect light and there was no sound detected during the twenty-second
observation. The witness who has a military background, stated, it gave
him the impression that it was "a probe of some kind." Note:
While reports of small spherical objects are not common, since the 1960's,
Stan has recorded several that were very close to the observers, and range
from several inches to a foot in diameter. Thanks to Stan Gordon PA UFO/Fortean
Hotline: 724-838-7768 paufo@westol.com

WASHINGTON DC INQUIRIES WITH NORAD CONCERNING UFOs

Researcher Kenny Young contacted Major Barry Venable, a Public Affairs
officer with NORAD concerning the launch of two F-16s of the 113th ANG
from Andrews AFB on July 26th against an unidentified radar track. She
says, "To date, we have acknowledged that we scrambled fighters to
investigate an unknown aircraft detected by radar. The unknown aircraft
faded from our radar screens before the fighters arrived. The fighters
investigated the area where the unknown radar track was located, detected
no other suspicious activity or aircraft, and returned to base. At no
point in their mission did the fighters "chase" anything. We
did acknowledge that we did not know what aircraft caused the radar signature.
"Any unknown air activity is potentially threatening-that's why we
respond. Public discussion of these possibilities or our determination
of actual cause does not serve the public interest. "We continue
to assess over 400 other potentially threatening events since Sep 11-and
will factor it into our overall threat evaluation. Despite the unfortunate
publicity arising from the sensational yet unproven eyewitness account
of "blue objects in the sky," NORAD is treating this event in
the serious context of providing an effective air defense for North America."
Thanks to Kenny Young

NORTH CAROLINA RED LIGHTS FLASH OVER OCEAN

OUTER BANKS -- While on the beach at 9:50 PM, my brother-in-law saw a red
light about a mile south of us on the coast line on July 23, 2002. About
an hour later he saw the light again just southeast of us but closer.
Fifteen minutes later we both saw a similar light northeast of us. After
fifteen minutes, six of us saw the light for the final time at 21:50 PM,
to the southeast with single red "flash." Then it split into
two "flashes" then three "flashes." Each "flash,"
being it's own separate light and occurring for five to ten seconds over
the Atlantic Ocean. We all looked for these lights the next two nights
and didn't see anything however it was cloudy. Thanks to Peter Davenport
NUFORC

OHIO FLYING FOUNTAIN PEN, POSSIBLE ABDUCTION

YOUNGSTOWN --M. J. Ruben writes, "In Filer's Files #32 you reported
a dramatic night sighting on Highway 84 on July 31, 2002. A young man
witnessed a flash of light, followed by a sighting of an object that looked
like a "fountain pen." The object streaked across the sky, stopped,
and the truck ahead of the witness suddenly was no longer there! It sounds
like a possible "abduction," a.k.a. interaction case. This UFO
- Truck incident reminded me of a series of similar events that happened
in Detroit in the late 1980s. I had the opportunity to discuss it with
one of the witnesses. During rush hour traffic on I-275 (a major highway
in the Detroit area), motorists would suddenly find themselves driving
head-on into speeding traffic on the other side of the divided highway!
People were so startled to see this, that it started making the evening
news each time it happened. The "rest of the story" was told
to me by a witness involved, who said a large semi-truck in front of him
would not let him pass, causing him to think afterwards that perhaps this
was a UFO! Like other motorists, he suddenly found himself driving on
the other side of the divided highway head-on into oncoming, speeding traffic.
To me, it sounded like highway abductions, with people and their cars
put back down on the wrong side of the highway. The news never mentioned
the suspected UFO involvement. Thanks to Marilyn Ruben, Alien Abduction
Research http://www.abduct.com/

ARKANSAS DAYLIGHT DISKS SEEN

NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- The observers report seeing a saucer shaped object
on July 27, 2002, that was silver chrome like with bright sunlight bouncing
off of it. My adult daughter and I were heading west at 4:00 PM, when
we both saw a hovering the disk above the tree line about a mile away.
As we drove closer, we could see it more clearly and observed for a couple
of minutes that it never moved, and just reflected the sun like a mirror
would. Neither one of us has ever seen anything like that.

POCAHONTAS -- The witness was awakened by a 2:30 AM phone call from his
neighbor, asking him to look at this thing in the sky on July 28, 2002.
He got his binoculars and observed, "The object moved west and would
flicker green, blue and orange to the naked eye, but with my binoculars
we could see that the top was blue, the center was orange and the bottom
was green." With binoculars, we could see it was saucer shaped as
it slowly moved westward. It was visible for about an hour before it left
our sight heading west. It was my first UFO experience. Thanks to Peter
Davenport NUFORC

TEXAS ROUND UFO WITH MULTIPLE LIGHTS

ADDISON -- My brother-in-law called on July 29, 2002, to say there was
a UFO sighting at around 9:30 PM, that was seen by a lot of people. It
was round with a couple of different colored lights. It came down and
hovered for a while before going straight up out of sight. One of the
guys interviewed on the radio said he has never believed in UFO's and now
he has seen one! Thanks to Peter Davenport

NEW MEXICO FLYING TRIANGLE

SOCORRO -- The observers stated, "It was a flying triangle to the
best that we could determine on July 26, 2002, the lights fused together
as one but were distinctly separate, like the sun and nearly overpowering
to watch for very long. At 5:45 AM, just before sunrise the object just
'blinked out' and just slipped into another dimension without a trace.
It flew vertical. "I have always thought they flew horizontal, but
what we have seen both times indicate that these fly on a vertical plane
as opposed to a horizontal axis. Similar objects were seen two days before.
Thanks to Peter Davenport

CALIFORNIA FLASHING LIGHTS

Nora writes, "On August 7, 2002, I was outside and saw a bright red
planet at 10:55 PM, so I went inside to get my glasses and binoculars so
I could see it as clearly as possible. I came back out to look at that
red planet, when I saw a UFO that flew an erratic pattern, left, then right,
then left again. It flew all around the place -- taking huge amounts of
space -- and intermittently flashed a very bright white light in a pattern,
I've never seen before. It wasn't constant, or consistent, and I couldn't
predict when it would flash again -- then it vanished. It was flying towards
the west, but not low when it did. Thanks to Nora

CANADA HUGE OBJECT FLOATS DOWN VALLEY

TELKWA/HOUSTON -- Brian Vike reports, "A retired teacher. her son
and husband all watched a "HUGE" glowing white-yellowish object
fly straight down the valley from their home. Smither's Interior Newspaper
reports a major sighting took place from 10 to11 AM, on July 29, 2002,
when nine witnesses in different locations watched a huge glowing object.
A logging contractor said it looked like an oak barrel in shape and made
of metal. Two projections stuckout from the center of the object. It was
cruising faster than the small aircraft they see in the area. It flew
along side the Smithers Airport heading southwest. It was darker in the
middle and rotating in the center. Other witnesses saw something to the
right of the airport flying in a southwesterly direction. The object was
round in shape and silver (metallic) in color. While they were watching
this object, it up and disappeared instantly. It would have been close
to the size of a normal wall clock at an approximate distance of a kilometer
and a half away. They figured it was going to crash into the ground, although
no one had seen this take place.

PENTICTON -- My friend, who lives downstairs was outside watching the sky
on August 10, 2002 . He said that he saw fast moving lights, faster then
a plane and stopping in mid air and dropping straight down and disappearing
for a couple of seconds. They started zigzagging around in circles and
eventually formed into a triangle. I joined him and we saw four lights
at one point, which were flashing all sorts of colors. They would disappear
and reappear but after a while they were gone. Thanks to Brian Vike HBCC.

MEXICO SEVEN UFO FLOTILLA VIDEOTAPED

MEXICO CITY -- On Sunday, July 21, 2002, at 7:10 PM, "Salvador Guerrero
captured on video a small flotilla of seven gray barrel-shaped objects"
as they were "flying over the eastern section of Mexico City."
According to the report by Ufologist Ana Luisa Cid, Guerrero originally
saw eight objects, but one darted away, and he was only able to catch the
seven UFOs with his telephoto lens for a period of five minutes. Guerrero
said. "The UFOs moved slowly in formation, three of them in a vertical
line, and the remainder in a triangular formation." Thanks to Daniel
Munoz NotiOVNI

ARGENTINA RANCHER CLAIMS CELL PHONE TAKEN BY UFO

JACINTO ARAUZ -- A rancher claims he was only a meter and a half away from
a "flat, three-legged flying apparatus"- which left him immobilized.
Raul Dorado, owner of a field says everything began with a noise similar
to that of a "whirlwind" and he later saw a strange craft descend
over him, whisking away his cellphone and leaving him momentarily speechless.
"He recalls. "It was a dim green colored circumference--although
in daylight, I wasn't able to note its luminosity. It had three legs and
was barely a meter or meter and a half away from me," he maintained.
"When I saw it, I felt something like an electrical charge and fell
to the ground on my knees, paralyzed, unable to do anything, with my shotgun
leaning on the ground," he continued, "I was also carrying binoculars
and had a cell phone in my left hand, which was sucked up by the green
circle." Senior officer Marcelo Alarcon in charge of the Jacinto
Arauz Sheriff's Office said, "We placed calls that night to Raul's
cell phone to see if anyone answered and on two tries, it would ring and
then cut off, and on a third attempt, a sort of breathing could be heard,
and then the sound of the keypad being dialed." Follow-up efforts
-- indicated that the cell phone is either off or beyond the coverage area.
Thanks to Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Translation (C) 2002.
and Gloria Coluchi. .

ENGLAND UFO LANDS IN FIELD

DEVON, CORNWALL -- Western Morning News reports strange lights in the sky
were seen by a number of people that prompted a flurry of calls to a local
radio station on August 3, 2002. BBC Radio Cornwall dealt with the inquiries
after a woman from the Southeast rang the station to report seeing lights
coming down in a field. The station's Laurence Reed said the call had
attracted more than its fair share of interest. He said: "We had
a call from a woman from the Camelford area who said that she had seen
a UFO. Dr Robert Massey of the Greenwich Observatory in London , said
he could not think of an astronomical explanation for the lights. "The
planet Venus is visible quite low in the sky just after sunset and it's
not likely to be the International Space Station - that only looks like
a fairly slow-moving light which takes three or four minutes to go right
across the sky." Thanks to FarShores

UFO SPOTTED FROM AIRCRAFT OVER THE NORTH SEA

GOTHENBERG -- We were flying at 37,000 feet, on August 8, 2002, on a Ryan
Air Flight over the North Sea at 13.30 hours when below us a white missile
shaped object was flying the opposite direction at incredible speed clearing
the horizon in about thirty seconds. The object left no trails and there
were no signs of jet or rocket propulsion. Later we saw a conventional
aircraft at the same altitude and in comparison this aircraft was moving
at roughly fifty times slower than the previous object and was at least
ten times smaller. Thanks to Ron Peploe and UFO UK News AJames@emufora.freeserve.co.uk

GERMAN POLICE OFFICERS CHASE RED OBJECT

LÜBECK -- Chief of Police Achim Kähler and his colleague Dirk
Schöning were on night patrol, when they saw a bright light racing
across the sky that at first they thought was an aircraft crashing. What
was strange about it was that the fiery object flew on and at such speed
that it could not be caught by the chasing police auto. "I saw a *circle
of* red fire," said Salvatore Cairoli. The object flew apparently
intelligent controlled towards Travemuende, before it turned off to the
right and disappeared. The operations center immediately made inquiries
with the air traffic control in Bremen and with the Air Base of the German
Federal Armed Forces in Jagel about low-altitude flights -- but found nothing!
Thanks to FarShores translation http://quest4wisdom.tripod.com/skepsiswatchers/

UKRAINE STRANGE BLINKING LIGHTS

CRIMEA -- Anton Anfalov says, "I would like to report that on July
31, 2002, at 22:15 PM, I saw a strange object that flashed a yellow light
in the sky. Then I noticed strange dim yellow blinking light high up that
flew south over the Crimean peninsula possibly in space. The object did
not look like an ordinary satellite because of its constant blinking.
It obviously wasn't any aircraft, most have white or red flashing lights,
not yellow ones. Thanks to Anton Anfalov, Research Specialist for MUFON
in Ukraine, UKUFAS (Ukrainian UFOlogical Association) an@crimea.com http://www.tele13.cl/cgi-tele13/video-mil.pl?url2

GREECE ALIENS LAND AND DAMAGE CROPS

PRINI -- Aliens have landed on farmers' fields and are destroying the crops.
A farmer from Koziakas region reports bizarre flying objects that landed
in his field last week wreaked havoc with his wheat field. "A disc-shaped
object appeared over my field, it was full of holes!" said Athanassos
Tsioukas. The farmer confused by what he saw, rushed to the local coffee
shop. "When we got back to the field the aliens had gone, but their
machine had left markings in the soil, each as deep as 20 cm. My crops
had been cut off." Farmer Apostolos Patramanis who owns the next
the field is another witness of the landing. "Bright flashes light
up the sky and then a huge object appeared and landed on Tsiokas's crops"
he claims. The children said, they also saw the sky glistening above the
village, when the object was landing. In recent years, growing numbers
of UFO sightings have also been reported in Cyprus, Greece. Thanks to Sirius

BULGARIA ALSO REPORTS UFOs.

KIRCAALI -- It has been reported that the residents of the Vizrojdentsi
district have been witnessing a show by UFOs every night. The "Standart"
daily newspaper published in Sofia, wrote that ongoing visits by UFOs for
three days was first reported by 14-year-old youngster Anton Dimitrov.
Anton describes the first UFO as a triangle-shaped bright red object.
"Two other UFOs joined the first one making 8 or 10 circles in the
sky and then disappeared over Kircaali Dam" he says. Thanks to Sirius
UFO Space Sciences Research Center, Turkey

NEPAL FIREBALL IN SKY TERRORIZES NEPALESE

KATHMANDU [AFP] The Weekend Australian of August 11, 2002, reports, Many
residents of Southwestern Nepal are living in fear after seeing a fireball
swoop down from the sky to attack a woman two nights in a row. The Kathmandu
Post quoted residents of Nepalgunj saying the UFO would target people sleeping
on their terraces and roofs to escape the summer heat. "Sahim Khan,
55, was sleeping peacefully on her terrace when the fireball-like object
flew towards her ready to attack her and when we rushed towards Khan's
house, it disappeared instantly." Residents said the same ball of
fire had come after Khan the night before. Superintendent of police, Gokarna
Bahadur Pal, told the paper he had seen a red object in the sky but did
not know what it was. Rumors were circulating in the town that a fireball
killed a woman several days ago in a village in neighboring India. Thanks
to: FarShores UFO News - www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/index.htm

RUSSIAN HUNDREDS WATCH UFO DOGFIGHT OVER AIRBASE

SEROV -- Vickie York reports, "Hundreds of awestruck eyewitnesses
watched in shock and disbelief as 36 UFOs waged a spectacular dogfight
above a Russian air base!" The incredible aerial battle, which took
place at about 5,000 feet, was seen by Russian air force officers and two
visiting foreign journalists, from Poland and Latvia. "For twelve
minutes, the sky was ablaze with rays fired from the battling starships,"
says Polish news reporter Igor Wroclawski, who was there to cover an air
show. "Several of the craft that were hit appeared to be damaged
by the rays and one of them caught fire and crashed into the mountains."
The dogfight erupted at 2:05 AM on May 11, at the foothills of the Ural
Mountains. Radar first detected two groups of massive objects entering
Russian air space, and the base was put on full alert." "When
I went outside some soldiers were pointing up in the sky," says Wroclawski.
"I looked up and I could see dozens of saucer-shaped objects about
90 feet in diameter circling overhead." Within minutes of the initial
radar sightings, the two sets of flying discs opened fire "The weapons
were as deafening as thunder and they lit up the entire night sky,"
says Wroclawski." After twelve minutes, the UFOs took off to the south.
The Russian government emphatically denies the report.

SEARCH FOR ANCIENT MARTIAN LIFE CONTINUES

In the latest NASA study of a 4.5 billion-year-old Martian meteorite, researchers
have presented new evidence confirming that 25 percent of the magnetic
material in the meteorite was produced by ancient bacteria on Mars. These
latest results were published in the journal Applied and Environmental
Microbiology. The researchers used six physical properties they refer
to as the Magnetite Assay for Biogenicity (MAB) to compare all the magnetic
material found in the ancient meteorite -- using the MAB as a biosignature.
Magnetotactic bacteria, which occur in aquatic habitats on Earth, arrange
magnetite crystals in chains within their cells to make compasses, which
help the bacteria locate sources of food and energy. The fact that Mars
Global Surveyor data suggest that early Mars had a magnetic field is consistent
with a reason why Mars would have magnetotactic bacteria. "Our best
working hypothesis is that early Mars supported the evolution of bacteria
that share several traits with magnetotactic bacteria on Earth, most notably
the MV-1 group," said Simon Clemett, a coauthor of the paper at Johnson
Space Center. Mars has long been understood to provide the sources of
light and chemical energy sufficient to support life, but in 2001 the Mars
Global Surveyor spacecraft observed magnetized stripes in the crust of
Mars, which showed that a strong magnetic field existed in the planet's
early history, about the same time as the carbonate containing the unique
magnetites in ALH84001 was formed. In June, researchers using the Mars
Odyssey spacecraft announced that they had found water ice under the surface
of Mars. These attributes, coupled with a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere,
would have provided the necessary environment for the evolution of microbes
similar to the fossils found in ALH84001. "We believe this latest
study proves that the magnetites in ALH84001 can be best explained as the
products of multiple biogenic and inorganic processes that operated on
early Mars," Thanks to NASA

Editor's Note: These recent findings by NASA support my analysis of ancient
monuments and fort like structures on Mars, that were likely built by an
advanced civilization in the ancient past.

CROP CIRCLES SCORE BIG AT THE BOX OFFICE

"Signs" invaded theaters last weekend, setting box office records
for star Mel Gibson and director M. Night Shyamalan. The story of extraterrestrials
and crop circles captured $60.3 million the first week. It was by far
the biggest debut for a film starring Gibson and/or Shyamalan, who directed
1999's The Sixth Sense. The crop circle phenomenon helped propel Signs,
says Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios.

NANCY TALBOT CALLED TO ANNOUNCE A NEW CROP CIRCLE WEBSITE. I urge you
to visit http://www.bltresearch.com. She just returned from Maine and
is now working on Crop circles in New York and Idaho

HUBBLE TELESCOPE REVEALS 100,000 GALAXIES in a small area of the sky indicating
there are more galaxies in our universe than previously thought. Recent
discoveries of over 100 planets outside our own solar system indicate our
galaxy alone should have about 100 million Earth like planets.

PHOTOGRAPH BOOKLET of some of the best UFO photographs available and data
on their propulsion systems by US Navy Commander Graham Bethune is available
for $10.00. Send check or money order to G. Filer 222 Jackson Road, Medford,
New Jersey 08055.

THE UFO STORE -- Your purchases at the UFO Store will help pay for the
UFO display at the Air Victory Museum. Go for the widest selection of
UFO books, CDs, and videos on the net at: http://www.filersfiles.com.

MUFON UFO JOURNAL -- For more detailed monthly investigative reports subscribe
to the MUFON JOURNAL. A MUFON membership includes the Journal and costs
only $35.00 per year. To join MUFON or to report a UFO go to http://www.mufon.com/.
To ask questions contact MUFONHQ@aol.com or HQ@mufon.com. Mention that
I recommended you for membership.

Filer's Files is copyrighted 2002 by George A. Filer, all rights reserved.
Readers may post the complete files on their Web Sites if they credit
the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue that the
item appeared. These reports and comments are not necessarily the OFFICIAL
MUFON viewpoint. Send your letters to Majorstar@aol.com. Sending mail
automatically grants permission for us to publish and use your name. Please
state if you wish to keep your name, address, or story confidential. CAUTION,
MOST OF THESE ARE INITIAL REPORTS AND REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION.